DOVER, Del. - The NASCAR driver known as "The Outlaw" testified Tuesday he believes his ex-girlfriend is a trained assassin dispatched on covert missions around the world who once returned to him in a blood-splattered gown.

"Everybody on the outside can tell me I'm crazy, but I lived on the inside and saw it firsthand," Kurt Busch said when his attorney, Rusty Hardin, questioned why he still believed Patricia Driscoll is a hired killer.

Busch, appearing in court again over Driscoll's request for a no-contact order, continued the push of his legal team to discredit his ex as a scorned woman out to destroy his career, portraying her as a character fit for a screenplay.

Busch said Driscoll repeatedly asserted her assassin status and claimed the work took her on missions across Central and South America and Africa. He recounted one time when the couple was in El Paso, Texas. He said Driscoll left in camouflage gear only to return later wearing a trench coat over an evening gown covered with blood.

A day earlier, Busch said his ex-girlfriend told him she was a mercenary who killed people for a living and had shown him pictures of bodies with gunshot wounds.

Busch said Tuesday that Driscoll had claimed that a female character in "Zero Dark Thirty," a film depicting the CIA's hunt for Osama bin Laden, was a composite of her and other women.

Last month, Michael Doncheff, who served as a personal assistant to Busch and Driscoll, said an ailing Driscoll told him in September that she had been picked up by a big man and slammed to the ground while helping round up immigrants at the Mexican border, a story Doncheff considered "far-fetched."

Doncheff said Driscoll also asserted that she was a trained assassin for the U.S. government and once told him, "I take down foreign governments. I own Washington."

During the hearing, which stretched over four days, neither Driscoll nor her attorney refuted the testimony. Driscoll was not immediately available for comment after the hearing Tuesday and did not immediately respond to voicemail messages.

Busch testified Monday that he decided to end his relationship with Driscoll after a race last fall because she was monopolizing his schedule and he needed to focus on racing.

Motor RacingKurt Busch facing domestic assault probe
Driscoll said Busch assaulted her in his motorhome at Dover International Speedway a week later, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her head into a wall three times. Busch and his attorneys have denied the allegations, which are the subject of a separate criminal investigation. Driscoll's attorney, Carolyn McNeice, cross-examined Busch on Tuesday, but few of her questions dealt directly with the assault allegations.

Busch has testified that he repeatedly told Driscoll to leave after she showed up unannounced at his motorhome, finally cupping her cheeks in his hands, looking her in the eye and telling her she had to go.

"He advised that her head tapped the wall as he was doing that," Detective James Wood testified Tuesday, recounting Busch's interview with Dover police in November.

Richard Andrew Sniffen, a Christian music minister who performs at NASCAR outreach events and befriended Busch and Driscoll, said Driscoll told him on the night of the alleged assault only that Busch had pushed her and that she hit her head. Sniffen said Driscoll was upset, angry and brokenhearted, but that she never said she was afraid of Busch and seemed intent on reconciling.

That attitude shifted in the weeks that followed, Sniffen said, with Driscoll going "from a broken heart looking for love and reconciliation to anger and a little bit of revenge."

"I will destroy him," Sniffen said Driscoll told him, adding that she repeatedly said she would take Busch down.

A court ruling on Driscoll's request for a no-contact order is expected later this month or in early February.

DOVER, Del. -- NASCAR driver Kurt Busch has been accused of domestic assault by his ex-girlfriend, and police in Delaware said Friday they are investigating.

The Dover Police Department said in a statement that the allegations were brought to the department Wednesday. Busch's ex-girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll, said the allegations involved an incident inside his motor home at a race at Dover International Speedway in September. The couple broke up about a week before.

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Mike DiNovo/USA TODAY SportsNASCAR says it is aware of the assault allegations against Kurt Busch, who has not been charged.
Driscoll has filed court documents asking that a judge order Busch to stay away from her and not contact her. She also is asking that Busch undergo a psychiatric evaluation and be evaluated by a certified domestic violence treatment agency.

The documents, filed Wednesday, say Busch was despondent the night of Sept. 26 after his poor performance at the qualifying session.

"He was verbally abusive to her and said he wished he had a gun so that he could kill himself," the documents say.

Driscoll said Busch, 36, called her names and accused her of "having spies everywhere and having a camera on the bus to watch him." He then jumped up, grabbed her face and smashed her head three times against the wall next to the bed, Driscoll says in the documents.

Driscoll says she pushed Busch away and ran from the bedroom, going to a nearby bus to put an ice pack on her head and neck. She said the incident caused her severe pain, difficulty breathing and bruising on her neck.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 2.

An attorney for Busch said he was cooperating with the investigation.

"This allegation is a complete fabrication by a woman who has refused to accept the end of a relationship and Mr. Busch vehemently denies her allegations in every respect," Busch's attorney Rusty Hardin said in an emailed statement.

NASCAR said it was aware of the situation and gathering information. Busch has not been charged. If he is, his case would play out after a series of high-profile cases involving prominent athletes, including Ray Rice and Greg Hardy in the NFL, ignited a national debate about how tough professional leagues are when allegations of abuse surface.

Hardin, said Busch will fully cooperate with the authorities.

"He expects to be vindicated when the entire truth of the situation comes to light," Hardin said.

A spokesman for Stewart-Haas Racing, Mike Arning, said Busch's team was still gathering facts about the incident and not in a position to comment.

Known as "The Outlaw" in racing circles, Busch is the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion and one of the more accomplished drivers in the series. He qualified 10th Friday for this weekend's Quicken Loans 500 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.

Driscoll, 36, is an executive for a small Washington, D.C.-based defense consulting firm and president of the Armed Forces Foundation, a nonprofit for veterans. The couple met at a foundation dinner in 2011, and after hitting it off, Busch became a spokesman and ambassador for the foundation. The group severed its ties with him Friday because of the "serious nature of the allegations."

"For more than a decade, Ms. Driscoll has been a tireless worker and advocate for our nation's service members, veterans, and military families," AFF chairman Pat La Frieda said in a statement. " ... We ask that Ms. Driscoll's privacy be respected."

Busch has a history of run-ins on and off the track with drivers, NASCAR officials and reporters. He was suspended by Roush Racing for the last two races of the 2005 season after police cited him for reckless driving.

A fan caught Busch on video verbally abusing ESPN reporter Dr. Jerry Punch during the 2011 season finale, and Busch was fined $50,000 by NASCAR after the clip was posted on YouTube. He was suspended for one race in 2012 for verbally abusing a reporter.

Busch has seen a sports psychologist to learn to tame his emotions.

But with Driscoll, he appeared to have softened his image. She and her son, Houston, became fixtures in Busch's life. The pair came across as a happy couple when Busch attempted to complete the Coca Cola 600 and the Indianapolis 500 on the same day earlier this year, a feat only a handful of other drivers have attempted. They welcomed reporters into her Ellicott City, Maryland, home, and cameras followed them around for weeks for the NBC documentary "Kurt Busch: 36."

They acted like a family: Busch, Driscoll and Houston went on a hunting trip this year in New Zealand and Busch took Houston fly fishing. The child got the nickname "The Mini Outlaw" as a regular at the track.

She celebrated his accomplishments publicly. Busch made the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in his first season at Stewart-Haas Racing, and Driscoll tweeted regular updates from his NASCAR races this season. They frequently embraced on the track, or were seen walking hand in hand, never shying from public displays of affection.

Busch's talent has never been doubted, with 25 career Cup wins and the 2004 championship. But his prickly personality has scared away sponsors, and rides with deep-pocketed owners Jack Roush and Penske fizzled. His career detoured into journeyman status with single-car teams the last two seasons before landing at SHR.